Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut early Sunday to attend the funeral of Hezbollah's former leader, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.
Hezbollah has been calling on its supporters to attend the funeral in large numbers in what appears to be a move to show that the group remains powerful after suffering major blows during a 14-month war with Israel that left many of its senior political and military officials dead.
Hezbollah has prepared for the funeral by setting up the stadium to host tens of thousands of people while giant screens were placed along the airport road outside the stadium for people who won’t get a space inside to watch the funeral.
Officials from around the region including Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to attend the funeral at the Lebanese capital’s main sports stadium.
Nasrallah will be laid to rest later Sunday in Beirut while his cousin and successor Hashem Safieddine, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb a few days later, will be laid to rest in his hometown in southern Lebanon.
